The Ring Virus

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Movie: The Ring Virus
Revised romanization: Ring
Hangul: 링 바이러스 / 링
Director: Kim Dong-Bin
Writer: Kim Dong-Bin (screenplay), Koji Suzuki (novel)
Producer:
Cinematography:
Release Date: June 12, 1999
Runtime: 108 min
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

Followed by the death of her friends, a journalist Hong SunJoo comes across a videotape containing incomprehensible images. Towards the end of the tape, she finds the curse which states that the viewer would die at the same time next week if he/she does not perform certain tasks. However, the next scene explaining the nature of the task has been erased. SunJoo and a doctor named ChoiYul embarks on the process of breaking the curse placed upon them. They discover that the videotape was made by the psychic called Park UnSeo. Unseo was an illegitimate daughter of a female psychic and was born a hermaphrodite. She was romantically involved with her half-brother and worked in a night club for a while. There, a man who found out about her secrets was killed as she has the uncanny ability to protect herself. The video tape is the medium UnSeo uses to reveal herself to the society. Her first exposure to the media was a painful experience, which caused her to withdraw from the outside world. When it became difficult for her to relate to the society, she retaliated by infiltrating it like a virus. The way of infiltration is one-way only and any attempt to block the process ends in extreme consequences.

Notes

Based on the novel by Kôji Suzuki, this film explores the nature of human curiosity and the video culture of the 90's. The Japanese version was released as 'Ring' in 1998 and the Korean version, which was produced in collaboration with Japan, was released in 1999.